Jet Set Chronicles
by MMDProgramVocaloid
Summary: Avalon lives in a completely normal life, even a bit boring. But that turns around when his internet friend sends him a new MMORPG. Under the username known as 'BEAT', he and his friend 'GUM' starts making a name for themselves in the game, and even a bit in reality. But what will become of the two? Anything can happen online, especially with the new MMORPG they became drawn to.
1. Beat and Gum

It's only temporarily, like, it's not like I'll actually continue playing it after one week, right? I've never been so wrong in my life.

I sat there all alone in my awkwardly normal bedroom in my awkwardly too normal house. Sitting on the edge of my computer chair, staring at the open box that was on top of my bed, it was so silent it was loud, if that made any sense. Come on Avalon, you got to have faith in yourself, I mean, it's not like everyone online will treat you badly. What's the worse some immature 60-year old man could do to a harmless 17-year old kid online? No matter how much I tried telling myself to play it, I had mixed feelings about this MMORPG.

Just then I looked at my computer, and I got a message on Pesterchum, I kicked the edge of the bed, sliding over to my computer desk on my chair. It was her.

-BubbleGum0103 [BG] began pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:05

[09:05] BG: Happy birthday!  
[09:05] BG: Did it come yet?  
[09:05] BB: yea  
[09:05] BB: thanks bro  
[09:06] BG: He he, no problem!  
[09:06] BG: Did you open it yet?  
[09:06] BB: yea  
[09:07] BB: just need to find my cast dreamer console to open it up. cant find it anywhere i swore my sister left it in her room  
[09:07] BG: Ah, alright then, I'll wait for you. ^_^

I got out from my chair. Okay, so I lied, my sister left me with her console few days ago when she left for college. She got it a few months back when it was her own birthday, but she stopped after a few weeks, since she had to study for exams or something like that. But I really wasn't too delighted about meeting hundreds of strangers online in a game a stranger I met online told me to play. I've been chatting with BubbleGum0103 for about a year now, and when I told her when my birthday was, she asked me for my address. I told her no way José but she persisted and told me she could easily find my IP address anyways, so I just gave in. And now this box was here.

I didn't think she'd _really _send it. The girl's been obsessing over it for about 2 months, this game. She was a beta player, meaning she got to try it out before it was even released, and she got a spare copy for doing that, and she sent it to me. It didn't look all that special to me. I walked over and sat by the rather large box. There was a card inside it that read:

"Hey BeatBox!

Thought we could actually meet face to face for once instead of just, you know, chatting online and watching each other draw on livestream, so I got you this game! ^w^ We can finally get together and talk! This game is realistic, meaning we can feel pain, emotions, wind, etc, so it'll be like meeting each other in real life~ O3O Here's the one rule you have to follow for my kindness, okay? Don't change your appearance in the game, since I didn't either, I want to see you _you , _so be 100% you, got it? Other than that, make sure you have fun fun fun! I'll wait for you at 9:30 ( in US time) in the Camelot den, in the first stage of the game, look for a girl named 'Gum', don't be late, or I'll kick your arse good!

And Happy 17th Birthday! May you be showered with gold and my happiness!

-From, Gum"

The rest of the card was full of drawings and rainbow confetti, along with faces of familiar fictional characters. That was how we met, because of fictional characters and because we were in the same fandom.

She didn't have to give it to me today, my birthday, because I'm sure I could've visited her somehow when I move to Japan 2 weeks later, but she wanted to be perfect as usual, and sent it on my birthday. Well, after all the trouble of her going through this all, it'd be rude of me if I just didn't log on once to meet her. Besides, 9:30 was approaching. I put the card back into the box and pulled out the game box. I held it close to my face and inspected each detail closely, it was a habit I had, picking out details from an artwork I fancied so I could learn from them, along with the colors. It was quite good, I had to admit. The cover was heavily accented with light yellow and showed a group of teenagers in fictional clothing on skates. The whole thing was peachy, and the cover itself proved it was an action worthy game. Other than that, it looked like a regular, decent MMORPG set in a fictional time period. I had to give it a try, after all she did for me, right?

I put the game cover back into the box and walked over to my computer again.

[09:12] BB: i got it  
[09:12] BG: Oh, yay! Go online right now, I'll meet you there!  
- BubbleGum0103 [BG] ceased pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:12  
-

Oh great, now she's off and waiting for me. I quickly rushed downstairs and poked my head into the kitchen, where my mom was washing the dishes left over from cake and dinner.

"Hey mom, I'm going to be studying for an hour so don't both me, okay?" I asked hastily, holding onto the bar of the staircase and waiting for my mom's approval.

"Alright, just make sure you don't get too sucked in." She murmured as I ran back upstairs and slammed the door (lightly) behind me. I took the box and opened it up. Soft, high-quality textured material as the inside, huh, fancy. I got the game cartilage out and plopped myself down on my chair with my Cast Dreamer. The Cast Dreamer was basically just a head gear that can play certain games for that console, like any other gaming console, nothing special. I remembered my first "MMORPG" when I was 13. I begged my mom and dad for a RPG game, and then on my 13th birthday, they got me one. Except it was one of those bad ones with no plot and was for educational use. I never played another MMORPG after that, and I wasn't too happy about changing that fact.

I hesitated for a bit, but inserted the game cartilage into the head gear anyways and put it on my head. Suddenly, I felt very excited, even a little scared. Boy, I've never been so excited for something since my dad got me my first drawing tablet, which I still use today. But then I had to wait for 2 weeks, now I was just waiting for 2 seconds, and I felt even more nervous. I had no clue as to why I felt that way. I mean, I wasn't even happy playing it, but I suddenly feel like something that was life-changing was about to happen. Finally, it was done loading. Even though it was 2 seconds, it felt like 2 hours. Instantly, I didn't feel like I was sitting in my chair anymore.

* * *

White. That was all I saw. I wasn't in my room anymore. I wasn't wearing a head gear anymore. Heck, I wasn't even in my world anymore, in a way. I was, of course, I was still in that chair, but I could tell my mind was here, and nowhere else. All there was in my sight was a small title screen in front of me.

-Insert your name and password-

Sweet, I could name myself Poopy123, yes, that would be perfect. I typed that in (as a joke), and believe it or not, some idiot already put that in. Great. So I just stood there in front of the screen mindlessly. I could name myself my real name, Avalon. I typed that in, and of course, it was taken. I bet it wasn't even their real name. I felt anger coming to my face as I typed in "jhdbshcbdsgcdghvcgh". Wow, amazing, that was apparently taken too.

I banged my head on the screen, oh god. Then I rubbed my head and tried to think. Time's ticking, Avalon, it'll be 10:30 soon and your internet friend will be mad. I sighed, knowing that this username probably be taken, but I typed it in anyways.

Username: Beat  
Password: Excalibur

I was beyond impressed and mind-blowned that it worked, and it brought me straight to the character customization screen. Perfect, I could make myself an exotic blonde elf, excellent. But I'm sure BubbleGum0103 would be mad, so I had to be dead serious with what I looked, and left my character as is. I checked off "Exact replica of user". Then suddenly, a reflection of myself appeared in front of me. I stared at the reflection. I wasn't always too fond of how I looked, not that I looked particularly bad or anything. I was just a bit slim for a guy and had odd red hair. People think it's ratchet when I tell them it's natural, and I hated that part. My mom would never let me dye my hair any other color. The only thing I could probably be proud of is my eyes, which I got from my grandma. They were just an odd shade of light blue that could turn dark at times. The reflection looked just like me, it was freaking me out. Dang, technology nowadays sure is advanced. Back when I was a kid, I had to use one of those toy telephones that never worked, only as games, and nowadays I see kids in their early elementary years with high tech phones that are all color-coordinated and heat sensitive. Living in America had its ups and downs I guess. This brought me to the next screen, which was the class selection.

-Choose your class-

-Archer- -Knight- -Barbarian- -Thief- -Rancher- -Caster- -Tamer-

Seven choices to choose my life, huh? I knew that the "classes" weren't really what we would be. The classes just decided our attributes and what material or bonus we could get at certain places, from what my friend told me. Archer was definitely out of the question, as I sucked at archery and had bad experiences with it. I remember once when I attended a summer archery camp because my dad thought it'd be great "experience" to appreciate the art of shooting at great accuracy. That was awful, because I had terrible aim. If you tell me to throw a ball 2 inches in front of me I'd end up throwing it to Africa. In the end, I was forced to quit because I poked some kid's eye out. So much for great "experience".

I wasn't about to choose Rancher either, even though I knew I would get free meat and milk when I visited my village at the right time. What great help could I do at battles with my attributes so low? Throw hunks of cow fat at monsters? So that had to be thrown out the window. Barbarian was also thrown out the window, for reasons very clear.

Caster would be cool, I could summon lightning and annihilate my enemies, or maybe I was just expecting too much from this game. But then I realized that Caster wouldn't suit me well, as I would have to carry a scepter and bags of magical goods. No way was I going to do that just to shoot stuff at people. I was too lazy for this kind of stuff. Besides, you have to literally study at mage schools (from what I've heard from BubbleGum0103) while gaining EXP. My lazy power is too great to handle that kind of hard work. I'd die instantly in a battle.

Thief wasn't exactly in my homerun either. I have no sense of tact and stealth, and I'm as slow as a turtle. Sure, my attributes would be so that it would match to a thief, but I'd trip and fall over something stupid every second. Tamer would've been cool, too. I could fight, train, and ride animals, and I would even get a free pet as a head start. But my attributes would be almost as low as a Ranchers, and that would make me just hide behind my animals all the time. That left me with only one choice. I clicked on "Knight" with my index finger and I got to choose some starter clothing. They weren't too fancy. I bet if I chose something majestic like Caster I would get fancier clothing. Some of the clothes were quite odd and too futuristic for a time period like this. In the end, after scrolling through 6 pages, I managed to find a somewhat casual outfit and chose it. It was what I usually wore, just with more spark. It was a green T-shirt with black short sleeves, and regular old black jeans. I got gloves as bonus, too. Oh, this is great, I could totally fight other gang members and monsters with this basic type of clothing, no problem.

-Click Confirm to confirm-

I clicked confirm to confirm. Hey, at least it didn't say "click OK to OK". Instantly, I felt like I was falling, just like that odd feeling I got when I went from my room to the title screen.

All of the sudden, I felt like I was outside. That was funny, since when I was outside, it was for school, 30 minute skating, or just to go out to come back in and hiss outside the window because I hate the outside sometimes, with dumb people left and right. My sister told me I had problems. I told her she had to get rid of that 5-pounds of make-up off her face. She refused to talk to me for a month. I looked at my hands, yep, no doubt about it, I was in the MMORPG my internet friend begged me to play. I was in "Jet Set Chronicles".

* * *

I felt kind of like a loser skating down the first stage, looking for Camelot's Den. I had a watch with me and it was 9:25, she was probably already there. It was a bit strange, because 9:25pm in real life was 9:25 am here (probably because this game was made in Japan, since US time is different from Japan time), and it was a bit weird to adjust to. Looking left and right as I skated through the village, I realized that some had modern clothes like me while some had fantasy-like outfits. This was a messed up fantasy time period alright. There were people of all shapes and sizes skating up and down the lane, and just standing while chatting, and maybe even looking through store windows. I saw too many unusually attractive people, which you wouldn't see much of in real life around my parts. I bet 90% altered their features in this game.

The game wasn't too bad, and several nodded at me and a girl even winked at me. I had to convince myself that these were real people, even though I felt like I was surrounded by nice NPCs. Forcing myself to look up from my skates, I glanced at the players around me. The atmosphere of this stage was so natural it was freaky. Everyone interacted with one another freely. It was like looking at a staged drama. Another thing that made me weirded out was the names above their heads. Things from "Saber" to "Amidst". Not such shabby names. But then there were uncreative names like "rachel0224" to "X3otakuX3". Couldn't imagine myself naming myself things like that, or calling others names in a similar manner.

Really quickly, I got myself to "Camelot's Den", which turned out to be near the starting point, and I skated around in a whole circle. Twice. Feeling a bit weird with entering a building with skates, I tried to not make much of a commotion as I walked in. The players sitting and hanging out inside barely even glanced at me, even when I stood by the door like an idiot. Looking through the (oh so many they could fit a whole ship) players, I tried to find a girl with the username "Gum" above their head. I began walking around the Den.

It wasn't even really a den. It was more of those mixed parties with small gangs of tough guys here and there whooping and playing cards and hurdles of (too slim) girls here and there at the tables. There were odd humanoid animal waitresses, too. Way to go, fan service. Pretty much, this is the type of place my parents wouldn't let me go to. And to think that my mom thinks I'm in my room studying.

It took until 9:34, but I finally found my internet friend. I didn't believe it was her at first, because I was searching for someone relatively unattractive. Then in the corner of my eye I saw the username 'Gum'. She was sitting alone at the corner of the room in a table, looking bored as ever. I really didn't believe it was her at first, but I went up to her anyways and stood near her.

She noticed me immediately, and looked up at me. Large, brownish eyes. I still refuse to believe it was her. She smiled. "Hey, I've been waiting for you!"

She stood up from her chair, smiling, somehow knowing it was me anyways without any introductions (probably because of my username).

I was a bit surprised, still, "Wow, you really are here." I remarked, stupidly.

She playfully punched me. Ow, it still hurt, and even more, I actually felt it. Creepy enough, but still cool. Why, you'd think I'd abandon you, you tardy?" She looked around with those _too-pretty-to-be-true-eyes _and added, "Let's talk outside, it's a bit crowded in here."

I shrugged casually, trying to keep a straight face, "sure." And we skated through drunkards and several big guys to make it outside. Oh god, the different amount of oxygen here compared to the den was overwhelming. Then I focused my eyes on her. This time, I could focus.

"You sure you didn't change your appearance?" I asked, still unconvinced.

"No, why?" She asked, dumbfounded.

You can't blame me for not believing her. There's no way I could've scored myself a slim blonde girl simply through the internet. No way could a dork like me ever do it. I inspected her carefully, not even aware of how creepy I probably was. She had brown eyes, that's for sure. Her hair was so light, it was nearly white, talk about creepy. Not to mention a pair of slim legs and arms. Her clothes matched well with her style, too. A light colored dress with blue collars. She must've jumped out of another RPG game.

"I don't believe you." I said, finally finished and folded my arms. She cocked her eyebrows, the same way my friends would when I make sounds that make no sense when I heard someone makes jokes about rape.

"What, why not?" She asked with fists on her hips with pouted lips. She was taller than me. Shit.

Quick, Avalon, say something smart, "Uhh…." Anything at all, "you don't look Japanese." I finished, raising my hands in defense.

"Oh, "she laughed, chuckling to herself. Nailed it. "I'm half Japanese and half something else which I won't tell you." She smiled. Jesus Christ, stop looking at me like that, I'm going to die from the awkwardness of being around the opposite gender. "Anywho…" she grabbed my arm, nearly twisting it in the process.

"Ow!"

"I want to bring you somewhere, come with me!" Not that she needed to say that, as she was practically dragging me through the crowd. I'm not sure what was more embarrassing, a girl taller than a guy, or him being dragged through a crowd by that girl. I wasn't exactly prepared for what was to happen next.

* * *

"Sweet mother of God!" I shouted as I was head butted right in the stomach. I swear I flipped more than twice before I hit the ground. God, I wished that this game wasn't so realistic. The ram may have been cute, but that didn't stop it from ramming me in my pancreas when Gum called it a sheep.

I sat up and threw a rock at it as it ran away. Gum offered me my hand, even though it was technically her fault.

"Sorry about that, I forgot that you were still level.1." She murmured as I took her hand and stumbled up. God, the pain was still there. If you think a ram ramming your stomach at the speed of a jetpack doesn't hurt, you're insane.

"Dear lord" I remarked, "Why'd you bring me here in the first place?" shaking leaves and grass off of my sleeve. If this was real life, I wouldn't survive for more than 3 minutes, and my remains would go as an offering to the herd of rams or hopefully just decompose.

"A quest." She smiled proudly, hand on her hips.

"You brought me here…" I began, "for a quest?"

"Yep, "she continued, opening up to a screen in front of her. Swiping her index finger swiftly across the speed, I looked over to her screen to see what she was doing. "See?" she asked, pointing to her screen. I leaned in closer to have a better look at what she was indicating to. It was a picture of an old looking piece of paper with fancy writing. It said:

"**In need of ram horns**! (Level 13 quest)

To whomever can see my request, I wish to ask of you 5 mere  
ram heads. They can be found further down east outside of  
Goblin's forest. I am too busy with current  
tasks to collect those horns for the shofars1 that I  
must sell. Please bring back 5 ram horns that  
are already separated from that of the ram's head!"

Rewards: 2000 c  
5000 xp  
Tuft of wool

I shook my head, backing myself away from the screen. "This is a level 13 quest, what do you need me for?" Right next to the username was Gm's level, which said 'level 15'.

"Hey, this'll be beneficial to both of us, you know?" She smiled, closing her screen. "We can share the loot and the experience points, and I can run away with the tuft of wool."

"What the heck do you need wool for?"

"Reasons." She smirked. Leaving a childish impression on me, she skipped several feet away (we changed our skates to shoes since we entered the grassy area) and turned back to me, "You in or not?" 2500 xp would sure earn me a lot, along with 1000 c. Besides, it's not like her taking sheep wool from me would be the end of the world.

"Fine." I sighed, walking over to her, "but you got to teach me the basics, I'm a noob."

She laughed out loud (or in her terms, 'lol') and made an "O" with her index finger and her thumb, winking, "Don't worry, under the great mistress Gum, you'll be elite in no time!" Oh boy, I thought enthusiastically.

We spotted a small group of rams near us. Close enough to sneak up to, but far enough so they can't hear us.

"It's simple, yeah?" she began, taking out her level 10 knife and hiding behind a rock with me closely following her. "There are two ways to do it, we sneak up to them and cut one of theirs off, or do it the old fashion way and face them head on and kill all of them, and then take six horns." She turned back to me, getting slightly whipped in the face with her blonde hair. "Easy enough, right?"

I nodded, "But isn't taking their horns like killing them?" I felt really dumb asking questions, but it wasn't really my fault. After all, I was just a beginner.

Smiling once again, she turned back to face the three rams chewing on grass, "Don't worry, they regenerate. Quite quickly, too, if I may add."

"Got it."

"Erm… you take the one on the right, the fat looking one." She ordered quietly. I held my beginner's knife close to me, "I'll take the one in the middle, the strong looking one, and then we'll see if we can catch the small one too. Got it?"

"Got it." I said, slowly separating myself from the rock's shadow, "Preemptive strike." I whispered.

"Right." We both neared the deaf rams chewing on grass that hundreds of people probably stepped on, practically tip-toeing. Half of my body wanted to scream and scare them away, ruining our quest and be an asshole. The other half told me to do what we were supposed to.

Suddenly, the fat ram peered up from its green vegetarian meal. It's mouth was full of grass and I could see a rock as it was chewing. Those rams are not regular real world rams that's for sure.

"Now!" Gum hissed, charging at the now alert ram that was running from her. I followed suit, running at the obese one. The ram that was small ran like the wind as if a serial killer was behind it. We shaved the rams clean of their horns and released them from our grip before they charged to where the ram before ran to. The fat one was a hard one to hold down, especially when I had to cut off his horns. Gum had to help me instantly the moment she finished her own target. It wasn't my fault, I was just a level one noob. Damn that stupid NPC that needed these stupid horns to make shofars. I could see their horns growing back instantly even as they ran.

I got up from the dirt, needing to brush myself once again as I handed the two horns to my partner. She giggled, "What did I tell you? Easy right?"

"I guess." I murmured, de-equipping my knife as she did the same. "It wasn't that easy cutting a two ton ram with a level one knife, though."

She just shrugged, "you just need a better weapon and attributes." I guess she was right. Marching off to where those dumb animals sped off to at the speed of light, "Well then, we just need one more, so come on!" I was more inclined to follow her now, seeing I got an expert player on my side. And I would have continued following her, too, if it weren't for the herd of rams charging at us.

"Are those…' she squinted, staring into the plains, "sheep?" I ran next to her. I couldn't believe it, they were just small black dots that instantly became nearing rams.

"Oh sweet honey iced tea!" I shouted before pulling her arm and racing the other direction as if I was the ram before. I let go of her hand soon and we both practically flew at the speed of a rocket ship as the rams were gaining on us.

"The sheep are coming!" she screamed, looking back. I didn't want to turn back, but I did, and saw hundreds, no, _thousands _of rams chasing after us. We ran fast, but they just ran _faster_.

"They're rams, you idiot!" I managed to let out as we jumped over a fallen tree. I could hear noises of a thousand animals jumping and landing heavily after a jump behind me. This was not how I imagined my death. At all.

"_I knew_ it!" Gum cried out, leaping over a rock and stumbling a bit afterwards, "I _knew_ the rewards were too good to be true for such an easy mission!"

* * *

"Aw…" don't be so mad, you know it's worth it!" She elbowed me as I continued to rub my cheek as we came out from the store in the first stage. We were all trashed up from the sheep- I mean rams, with cuts and bruises from head to toe. Why did this game have to allow us to feel pain, why? I nearly died, with only 7 health points out of 100. She paid for our potions, which looked suspicious to me. Snatching it from her hand, I stared at the red substance inside the jar.

I looked up and watched as she popped the cork from the bottle. This was one odd game with odd players. In the end, we managed to get our 5 horns, and we claimed our rewards (I got the tuft of wool instead of her, she insisted, though it barely made a difference. At least I got 1000 c and 2500 xp and became a level 2 novice). Those five horns had to come with the price of being head butted all over the place by those terrifying creatures over and over again. I was much more injured than Gum, since I was only a level one noob. I had no clue that cute small fluffy things with curly stuff popping out of their head could be so fierce. Well, now I know, along with the fact that you shouldn't call a ram a sheep.

My partner player (at the moment) chugged all of it down in seconds, with some trickles of red liquid slowly falling down her chin. She may have been dumb at times, but she was an uncommon female, that's for sure. I've never met someone so open to a stranger, even if we've been talking for a year, we've never met before.

Popping open my potion bottle, too, I looked inside. Didn't smell too bad, which was good thing. But I was worried about the taste. What if it tasted like turd? What _did_ it taste like? I looked over to Gum, the way she licked her lips after drinking certainly said not. Her health bar above her head was now 90% full. I decided to drink it anyway. Sipping a small bit at first, I immediately put it down. Then after I realized my friend was staring at me, I finished it all and watched it disappear into thin air. Strawberry.

* * *

"Hey, Beat box?"

"You can just call me Beat." I answered, staring at the sunset.

"I'm sorry for making you go on a mission that involved you getting ram ambushed." I kept silent for a moment, allowing us to hear birds cry out overhead. Then I sighed, feeling the grass brush on my arms and cheeks.

"It's fine, you didn't know that they were rams."

"That's the thing, I did know. I knew they were rams." She replied, staring at the sky right in front of us, as we continued lazily stretched out on the grass. I did not reply.

"I called them sheep because I knew it would anger them."

"uhm…"

"I wanted to show the rams that I wasn't scared to call them sheep. I'm sorry." She turned to me, with her arms still outstretched on the grass. This conversation was taking an extraordinary awkward turn. "I wasn't going to ever show I was scared of those rams." I knew that she was a bit odd at first one year ago, but I'm really starting to believe she needs medical attention. "When I was level one, I got killed by them because I really called them sheep thinking they were. They KO'd me."

"Uhm…"

"I wanted revenge."

"Uhm…"

"I just wanted revenge so bad…"

I cleared my throat.

"I wanted to kill one of them, too…"

This time, I cleared my throat louder, and she turned to me, now aware.

"What's wrong, throat hurts?"

"Uh… no, just got something stuck there." I felt like I was stuck in an island with a mental patient. Why did I agree to give her my address?

"Say…"

"Hm?" I turned to her, hoping she wouldn't go on about her awkward sheep tales. My head continued resting on my palms, though I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Gum turned from the sky again and looked at me with her usual smile.

"Ever heard of a gang?"

"No, I haven't." I began, slowly regaining interest. "I hear of it a lot in this game, I've been meaning to ask what it was."

"They're just groups. Or small guilds you can say." She began her small lecture, closing her eyes, as if trying to remember the information. "There are hundreds, no, probably thousands of them. Only a few are pretty famous."

"How so?" I asked, a bit curious myself.

"They're most likely known for their reputation, good or bad. Or sometimes, they're just large in size. The less famous ones are just plain small, with just two or five members." I looked over to her, and I could feel like this was a common subject to her, as if she didn't care much for it.

"Examples?" I asked, reassuring my interest in this topic.

"Ummm…. Well there's…" she began, pouting her lips thoughtfully. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried thinking of groups that were famous and simple ones that had no chance, "Well, I guess Poison Jam and Love Shockers would be counted as 'famous'."

"Oh really, what do they do?" I asked, sniffing my nose when a piece of dandelion fell on the tip of it. This game sure had nice graphics.

"Well… they fight over turf, I guess…" I looked over to Gum, whom still had her eyes closed, thinking, "Poison Jam doesn't have a very heroic reputation, though. Love Shockers are just a bunch of heartbroken girls banning together to make a living hell out of every couple in sight."

I let out an 'oh' from my mouth. Looks like there a crazier people than Gum, huh. "How many people do they have?"

"Oh, I don't know, 40, 50…" she blurted out mindlessly, yawning. She stretched out again on the grass, mumbling a gesture of joy as she did, "The unpopular ones just aren't lucky and either don't make a good reputation or has too little members."

"I see…." I looked back at the orange-reddish sky with level 50 beast-like bird creatures soaring in duos or solo miles above us. I shook my head, clearing it away from the clouds, "So… how's your life?"

She groaned, "Ugh, are we going to talk boring now?" she rolled around in the grass, getting strands of green and dirt on her clothes. She didn't seem to mind. I'm sure some of the girls in my school would've shrieked if they got a small patch of dirt on their stockings. "I don't want to talk about _my_ own life, how about yours?"

"Uhh well…" now_ I_ was trying to find words. "Nothing too much, y'know, just the usual stuff… school… you know, boring stuff."

"How's your parents?" she asked, looking more content than ever.

"My mom's probably still in the kitchen washing dishes or on her computer watching dramas," I fidgeted a bit, trying to get comfortable, "My dad is in Japan, making room for us to move in two weeks later, probably."

"Ahh, can't wait to meet you in Tokyo-to." She purred.

"Yeah, then I'll see how you really look like," I smirked, cocking an eyebrow. I received a playful punch from her. I chuckled. When was the last time I felt comfortable around a friend? I mean, I had friends at school to but…an online friend was different. It felt more… special.

"Say, Gum…" I began.

"Hm?"

"Am I keeping you from something?" I asked, a bit concerned, "Like… you're helping me out in this game and all, are you sure I'm not ruining any plans or something?" There wasn't any way a girl this nice could have no friends on a Saturday (Sunday morning for her).

She paused for awhile, thinking. Finally she answered, "No…" A smile formed on her pale face again, "I could lie here for hours."

I snickered in response. I closed my eyes and felt the gentle breeze blow on the front of my face. I haven't felt this peaceful and comfortable since forever ago. I never knew that an MMORPG could ease me this easily.

"Hey… Beat?" I heard her from next to me. I turned to her.

"What?"

"Why don't we…" the next of her words remained burned into my brain for the years to come until I would die.

"make a group of our own?"

* * *

Author's note: A small fan fiction I wanted to work on next to 'A star in the sky'. The idea sparked a few days ago while I was downloading an MMORPG onto my computer, and I felt so excited I was inspired to do this!

The chat system they are using is called 'Pesterchum' c: And the RPG is just based on your average day MMORPG~ More of the other GGs to be coming as well!

Shofar1- A horn-blowing instrument.

I hope to update on this and my other story soon ;w;


	2. Capricorn and Virgo

"Hey… Avalon, wake up!"

I groaned and kicked the bed sheets, and turned away from the sun, digging my face deep into my blankets.

"Leave me alone to die." I grumbled. I could hear my mom sigh deeply and throw my blankets halfway across the room. I hissed, or at least tried to, it was hard to talk properly in the morning.

"It's Sunday!" she yelled, pulling my legs from the bed as I grabbed my mattress to hold me down. "Don't you have a date today?"

"It's not a date!" I screamed, still holding on, "I'm going out with some friends today!"

"Then get going!" she gave up and threw my legs down on my bed. Ow. She walked over to pick up my bed sheets, "Jeez, how long did you stay up yesterday?"

I squinted at the ceiling, "I don't know… like, 10?" I lied.

"Then you shouldn't have trouble waking up." she folded them instantly and put them on the edge of my bed and walked out the door.

"Ugh!" I groaned. I stayed up until 5 in the morning with Gum in Jet Set Chronicles. We waited half an hour to sign up for a charter to make a group. Then we had to t a FEW more hours to be able to register. We used that time to take on quests that were more… _suited_ for me. I leveled up to 3 while she remained the same. Then I had to log off because I realized it was 5 in the morning. She told me she get the charter instead so I logged off. Now I have to get up because I'm going to a café with some friends today. Sighing, I got up and began changing into my usual jeans and T-shirt. Then I went over to the door to head downstairs to eat. I stopped then and looked around my room. It was pretty much empty now, with most of my stuff packed in a box downstairs. Didn't feel much like my room anymore.

Sighing, I just closed the door behind me and head downstairs before momster drags me down herself.

* * *

"What took you three so long?" I asked, shutting my cell phone off. I got up from the stairs of my house and glared at my friends.

"Messy red head here was what took us so long." My black haired bud pointed to my other one. He shot his head up in defense.

"Hey! You were the one with the make-up!"

"Say what?" She snapped, rolling her sleeves up, ready to fight.

"Guys! Knock it off!" Jazzy slapped the backside of Kevin's head. He rubbed it hard afterwards.

"Whatever." I shrugged, stepping towards them, "Where are we heading off to?"

"Well…uh, Alice found a pretty nice place down by 86th street," Jazzy shrugged, fiddling with her fingers, "Figured we might check it out."

"Cool." I answered casually. We began strolling down the neighborhood, just chatting away. Mostly about how much those guys will miss me once I get to Japan. Kevin just wants to steal the two of them for himself after I leave. Alice whacked him real hard on the backside on his head.

Despite her looks, Alice wasn't too much of a fighter. She just uses her gothic and tough look to bluff, and if she needs to, she can throw a decent solid punch. She was the toughest out of four of us, and I don't think that'll ever change. She wasn't the type of coward that would run to the side of the winning team in a game. She would make sure that _her_ side was the winning team. Alice just couldn't give a shit about gender roles, as in matter of fact, I think she goes around _breaking_ them. Her father was disappointed that he got a daughter instead of a son, and I think that's what really set her off. She chopped her hair short and everything, but she was still a girl. Afterwards she just gave up and slapped on some airbrush tattoos and dressed in all black. Heck, if there's anything that's colorful on her, it's the blue lipstick she wears, which sticks out like a swollen thumb. She was just rough on the sides, like a cube. But on the inside, you could tell she wasn't all tough. She had a hidden love for fluffy things (Alice once told us if we were to tell a single soul we wouldn't see the dawn of light).

Jazzy, on the other hand was quite the opposite of Alice. I think you could say she represented the voice of reason for Kevin and Alice's shenanigans. The mother hen of our little quad squad. Every time I saw her, she would get all nervous and become a hot mess. I'm not sure if this was how she acted all the time, but it's kind of cute. Once Kevin told me she totally got the hots for me, but I think that's just bull. Then Alice butted in and started making plans for a wedding and Jazzy just melted right there in the spot. I'm pretty sure it was just because they were pressuring her. Even though she was soft most of the time, she was a rebel at heart. She looked like frosty the snowman with her checkered scarf, blue lipstick, and white hair (before that it was brown). Her and Alice looked like opposite twins like that. I think she got her rebellious trait from Alice, as well as the (somewhat) strong personality. When she looked as though she was about to cry, she sucked those tears up, so I never saw her cry, even when her mom died in a car accident. Maybe it was because of the jazz music she listens to all the time calm her down.

Kevin. Oh boy where do I even begin to explain that piece of bird brain? Lazy, delinquent, and rebellious. The kids at my school like to call him the "drug dealer", but really all he does is sell cola gummy candies to others for a dollar for two packs. Those things really wake you up. I don't know where he gets them, but he's a life saver. Back in middle school, though, I met him when he was a tie dealer. He just came up to my table at lunch and asked me if I wanted a tie. Then he opened his backpack up, and it was completely full of ties. Turns out he was trying to get rid of his old man's ties for money. Too bad they were at a horrible deal. I remember being stupid and stealing 50 bucks to get that Mario tie. It's still on my computer table, and my parents never found out. He dyed his brown hair all red, thinking it'd match his dreadlocks. That kind of offended me, since mine was natural and he came up to me saying that we were now "equal". I punched him in the gutter. I wondered how he never tripped on his baggy pants. I'm not joking when I say baggy, I mean it. They're just so damn baggy. It's not even a joke, and I don't know how much he owns of them. He was also the first out of the four of us to drive a car and pop a clutch. I still haven't drove one yet, if you don't count my expert Mario kart skills.

"So… how are we going to keep in touch, man?" Kevin asked, kicking a cola can on the sidewalk.

I picked it up and put it in the trash, "Pesterchum, duh."

"But we'll lose track of each other eventually." Alice sighed, walking on.

"Well, we can call each other?" I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets. This conversation was getting awkward. "I mean, it's not like it can be helped."

"Yeah I guess." Alice motioned me to enter the café they mentioned. Wasn't too much, we just ordered our drinks and left to the place we always went to. I got myself green tea frap.

"Well, we still got time before you leave." Kevin sipped annoyingly from his orange crush and led us underground through the abandoned subway station.

"You sound like you guys are going to kill me," I joked.

Alice wrapped her available arm around my neck "Who's to say we won't?" I pushed her away laughing.

"See if you can."

She threw her hands in to the air, "Whoa guys, watch out, we got a badass over here." Jazzy chuckled at our shenanigans.

Kevin put down his drink on a crate and lifted up a garage door. We crawled in and then Alice lifted it up from the other side as Kevin crawled in after getting his drink. We could've have just used the backdoor, but the others said it was to create a more "dynamic" effect. I plopped myself down on the stairs in the abandoned place and the others just went over to do the same. I looked around. Man, I sure was going to miss this place. Kevin and I used to swing around on those chains hanging from the ceiling which was about god knows how many feet up. This area was actually the perfect place to skateboard and skate, too. There was a huge half pipe in the middle of the room. We thought that this might've been a stage for skateboard or motorcycle shows back in the 90s but we never found out. The whole place was rusty and dark. Other than the few rays of light from the hole in the ceiling, there wasn't any light. But still, we liked it here.

"So man, you ready to skate?" Kevin put aside his drink (again) and got his skates from his bag. Crap.

"Actually…" I began, feeling awkward, "I left my skates at home, in case you didn't notice." I felt so stupid leaving them at my house, back in the piles of cardboard.

"That's fine, you can use mine." Jazzy opened her bag and took out her skates. Her sentenced rhymed.

"Thanks," I felt miserable having to use someone else's skates. I strapped them on and skated to where Kevin was in the half pipe. Alice stayed back with Jazzy at the stairs.

"Bet you can't catch more air than me today."

"Shut up, I'm using someone else's skates today," I glared, pushing him playfully.

"See if you can go higher than this!" He dashed to one edge of the pipe and held on the edge of it upside down with his hand, then raced back down to the other side and flipped higher than I've ever seen him. Then he came over to me, out of breath. "You try."

I smirked, silly Kevin, you can't beat me at skating. I made sure my skates were on tight, then dashed to the edge that Kevin held on to. I did the same, but held on for about a few more seconds than him. Then I let go and sped to the other side of the edge and let gravity handle everything. I'm pretty sure I've beaten my old record, since I almost reached the ceiling, then I came down over to him. Surprisingly, I wasn't out of breath. The two cheered and Kevin looked at me funny.

"The hell man, did you train for 500 hours yesterday or something?"

"There are only 24 hours to a day, Kevin." He shrugged.

"Potato, Patato." We skated around the pipe and fooled around some more, then we went back the stairs for our drinks.

"Well then, you guys did better than ever." Alice smirked, "Did you put five hour energy in those drinks or something?"

"Maybe." I joked.

"Well, whatever it was," she stretched, "you improved by a landslide." I smiled, maybe it was because of all the skating in Jet Set Chronicles.

"Hey, why do you seem happy today?" Kevin asked, sipping away at his crush.

"Hm?"

"Yeah… you seem more cheerful today." Jazzy noticed.

"Why?" I asked, getting a bit hot, "A guy can't be happy?"

"Is it a girl?" Alice asked, looking up from her phone.

"What?" The three of us asked in unison.

"Well, what else can it be?"

"I'm not being any happier or something," I defended, "I'm being how I normally am!"

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." Alice chimed in. She and Kevin high fived.

"Actually, yeah man," He continued, "You seem happier today, seriously."

"How so?" I asked, sipping at my drink, getting more red.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "You usually don't joke as much with us and sometimes you don't bother getting a drink." Okay, that was a bit true. I did feel a little happier today.

"Who's the girl?" Alice whined, throwing her hands on my head. I hated it when people touched my hair. As much as I disliked it sometimes, it's still _my_ hair. I swatted them away.

"I told you, I'm being normal."

"Aw, c'mon man, who's the girl?" Kevin elbowed my ribs while Alice repeatedly messed my hair up. Jazzy tried to defend me, but they didn't really listen of course.

"I know it's a girl," she growled, "Now tell us!"

"You can tell us, bro!" Kevin shouted pushing me back and forth, "Our little Avalon has finally grown!" He said with fake sympathy. Did he just call me 'little Avalon'? Oh no. I punched him straight in the jaw.

"Call me little Avalon again and you won't see another orange crush again." I sighed, "Look, I don't know what you guys think the fuss is all about, I just stayed up all night to 5 yesterday."

"With a girl." The dumb black haired Goth chimed in. Okay, that was a bit true.

"I was just playing a game."

"With a girl." That was also kind of true, but not in the way they thought.

"And online MMORPG."

Kevin heaved a sigh and kicked back, "Oh, and here I thought you actually got a chick." I elbowed him in the ribs.

"That's just you and your shoujo fantasies." I could feel Alice's disappointment behind me. "Besides, I've known her through Pesterchum for a year. I'm probably going to meet her in Japan."

"So she's just an online friend, huh?" Jazzy asked. _Just?_

"Seems like it," The other female sighed, sipping her coke.

I turned around, "Hey, online friends are just as important as regular friends." I tried to talk as calmly as I could. I hated it when people think online friends aren't much noteworthy.

"Avalon, you never even met her before." She replied, "'sides, when where you into MMOs?" That would be yesterday.

"A while."

"Anyways, I just got to see an online friend in person yesterday, that's all."

"All the way until 5 in the morning." Kevin laughed.

"Yep, in jet Set Chronicles."

"Oooh," Jazzy remarked from behind, "I know that game, I thought it was only available in Japan?"

"I have my ways," I smiled.

"And what does this 'online friend' look like?" Alice blurted out, with a smug look, "'Cause I heard you could change your look in MMORPGs."

"She didn't change her look, we promised." I answered.

"So, describe her."

Uh oh. "Uhh… well…" I rolled my eyes trying to remember, "She's blonde… has a somewhat slim body…" I could hear Alice snort behind me. "And she… uh, hates sheep, I mean rams." Kevin spat out his crush laughing. "Hey, I'm being serious here!"

"For all you know," he began, making air quotes with his fingers, "_She _might be a 60-year old man in Italy or something." That ruined my image of everything.

"I hate all of you." I stated blatantly.

"Aw, don't be so mad there, Avy." The idiot besides me put his elbow on my shoulder, which I motioned away.

"We're just worried for you," Alice added. Even without turning around, I could tell she had a concerned look on her face. "She might be a con artist or something."

I paused, "I am aware." Then I sighed, "I know how to take care of myself ok?" I looked at my watch. There was still several hours until sunset, so I got up and threw out my empty can. I clapped my hands together, "So." The others got up, "What are we going to do today?"

* * *

I lied down there on my bed, just staring at my ceiling fan. There wasn't much left out in my room anymore, which was sad. I rolled around then stared at the computer screen. She wasn't on yet. It was 9 right now, just like the day before, maybe she didn't wake up yet. I sighed. I would hate leaving this place as much as I wanted to go to Japan. I had a decent reputation at my own school. I was afraid that I'd be bullied in the new one. There wasn't any reason for that, I spoke fluent Japanese. Still…

I would miss a ton of stuff here. I would miss hanging at that abandoned skating stage. I would miss skating on that half pipe with Kevin and see who could spit at the ceiling at the same time. I would miss watching Jazzy try to tame that bulldog everyone is afraid of and watch her get chased away. I would miss Alice hug every darn stuffed bear in sight in a Disney store and buy a few and hide them in her bag. I would miss the times when Kevin and I flirt with the random high school girls when we skate around at the public park (yes, we did flirt, as much as I tried not doing that, I was still a guy. It wasn't anything too much, just teasing and making girls blush.) I would miss the times when we tried to do rain dances when it 100 degrees out. I would miss the times when the four of us tried to bargain with the ice cream shop owner, who by now practically knows us from head to toe. I miss going to that class that taught you how to raise kids with Kevin and watch him try to pick up chicks and fail. I would miss plenty.

Then I saw someone message me.

-JazzyBugle [JB] began pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:13

[21:13] JB: hey, how's it going?

Oh, how surprising, it was Jazzy. I smiled. At least she wasn't a meltdown online.

[09:13] BB: i still can't get over that damn name  
[09:13] BB: jb  
[09:14] JB: O shut it  
[09:14] JB: Today was kind of fun don't you think?  
[09:14] BB: i guess  
[09:15] JB: Why don't you type more properly?  
[09:15] BB: i only do that to important people  
[09:15] JB: So I'm not important?  
[09:16] BB: yea  
[09:16] JB: Rude :I

I smiled a bit, this would be another thing I missed, chatting with friends about our day. Then I frowned because I imagined the three of them in that abandoned stage, laughing without me, and having insiders that I wouldn't understand. Then I saw BubbleGum0103 come on. Hell yes.

[09:17] JB: Oh wait, I got to go.

Great, now I wouldn't have to make up an excuse.

[21:17] BB: sure thing

- JazzyBugle [JB] ceased pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:17  
-

-BubbleGum0103 [BG] began pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:17

[09:17] BG: Quick, log on!  
[09:17] BB: what  
[09:17] BG: We gotta get our charter for our group!  
[09:18] BB: ah right that thing  
[09:18] BB: ill meet you at that den thing  
[09:18] BG: Got it!

- BubbleGum0103 [BG] ceased pestering BeatBox [BB] at 21:18  
-

I got off the computer and put my Cast Dreamer and immediately got on.

* * *

I opened my eyes, and suddenly, I was in the virtual world again. I smiled, as much as I don't like to admit it, I actually enjoyed the game in the end, though I won't ever say that to Gum's face, of course. I skated past the crowd and made my way to Camelot's den.

The moment I got there, all I saw were bundles of players. Shocking. But I could see Gum's username nearby, and I made my way to her.

She was sitting down looking annoyed, and looked like she was talking to herself.

"Gum!" I called out.

She turned to me. By now I got to her table and I saw a big guy right next to her.

"Beat!" She answered, looking delighted. I had no clue my presence could actually be beneficial to someone. She got up immediately and stood next to me. The dude that was sitting next to her got up. I sort of got the situation here now. I tried to put on my tough guy face.

"Back off kid, you're not welcome here." He growled. He was a level 12 guy. Great.

"Hey, don't tell him to back off," Gum said, getting a bit more hostile. "Don't you think you should be the one doing that?" she looked over to me. I glared at him.

"Why the heck should I be afraid of some shitty noob at level 3?" He snorted, crossing his arms.

"Hey, you better watch that disgusting mouth of yours before I shove your fat ass through that door and shoot you _back_ to level 3." I hated getting ugly, but I could when I needed to.

"But can you even?" He got up in my face.

"Hey, get away from us, yeah?" my partner asked, gesturing for him to step back, "Because _I_ can still kick your ass if I wanted to." Gum wasn't bluffing. She was a level 15 knight, and she wasn't afraid to prove that.

He ignored her remark, "Bet this skinny piece of noob can't even lift my food." He grabbed my wrist. I wasn't going to deny that my arms weren't the most muscular things in the world.

I swatted my arm from his grasp, "Yeah? And by the looks of it you look like you could lose some of your food." We were drawing attention now. Players looked over from their small groups and watched us verbal fight back and forth.

"Listen here you piece of new fresh shit," he sneered, "Don't get cocky just because you've got a level 15 girl on your side. You have no clue how many guys I've got on my team."

"Oh yeah, are they ignorant old guys with no sense of dignity, too?" I asked, getting up to his face. I could feel Gum secretly cheering for me.

"Watch it, punk," he growled, pushing me back. I staggered, but caught my footing. I didn't even need to retaliate.

"Hey, back off you dick!" My online friend pushed him back and he nearly tripped over the table that he sat in. You go, girl. She glared at him and I could feel a quite round of applause from the audience.

He looked as though he was really ready to hit my friend, but then one of the waitress NPCs noted him as a disturbance and asked him to leave. She was a level 100. It would definitely hurt if you were to pick a fight with her. He glared one last time at me.

"Better watch your own backs for the rest of your time here." He mumbled before stepping out the door. The others just turned back to whatever they were doing and the place was full of noises once again. Gum sighed.

"Man, that was intense!" she said, sweating all over. I stared at her, amazed. "What?"

"No, you're just…" I couldn't find a word to emphasize. Then I laughed, "I didn't know you could snap like that."

She smiled, "Everyone has their limits." She put her fists on her hips, "You did pretty good yourself, too, y'know."

"Being sassy is one of my specialties." I joked. She joined in chuckling.

"Anyways," she stretched, "We better go and get that charter." She looked at me, smiling again. She reminded me of so many things, but a regular girl was certainly not one of them. She was one of a kind, I guess.

"Yeah," I nodded, before walking out with her.

* * *

"Please fill out the form right here."

The heck is this? I held up the form in my hands. It was an old piece of paper with questions that I couldn't answer without my partner. Gum just left me here in the charter terminal without a word. I looked around from my seat. This place had a fantasy-like look. People were crowded all over the place, but not too crowded to not see a thing. It was the fancy kind of place, with a humungous window as one of the walls. I felt a bit out of place. I skated over to the large windows. This game sure had amazing graphics, with glass this realistic. I could see air tunnels for trains and on the ground far away was filled with forests, plains, mountains, and everything. I could've stayed there all day if Gum hadn't ran toward me shouting my name.

"I did it! I found a pen!" She handed me this silver stick with linings all over it. She was all out of breath and hyperventilated, leaning on the glass. The pen looked like a tablet pen you used to draw.

"Great, now you have to help me fill this out." I tapped the form with my pen.

"Yeah, got it." She breathed heavily. I handed it to her and we sat down on the circle bench.

~Group form~

Group name:_  
Founder(s):_

Contract:_

Members (please add on if new member is added)

*Note: If this item is dropped, we are not responsible for it and you must receive a new charter.

"Well?" I asked, handing her the pen.

"Why don't you write it?" she whined, nibbling on the edge.

"I have bad handwriting."

She sighed a 'fine' and looked at the paper. "What's our group name going to be?" I shrugged.

"I don't know, got an idea?"

"Mmmmm," she tapped her chin with the pen, "What's your zodiac?"

"Virgo, why?"

She giggled, "Virgooo," she snickered again. I playfully hit the backside of her head because I knew what she was thinking.

"Knock it off," I shook my head, smiling myself.

"Well, whatever, I'm Capricorn, sooooo…." She tapped her chin even more, thinking, "How about Caprigo?"

"That sounds a bit weird." I answered, furrowing my eyebrows, "But Virgorn sounds a bit odd, too."

"Vorn," she suggested.

"Nah."

"You think of something, smarty," she laughed, playfully pushing me.

"Uhh, well," I tapped my own chin, trying to think of something. We thought for about a minute, with people walking back in forth in front of us.

"What's in between our zodiac dates?" I asked.

"May, and that's Gemini, I think."She was scratching her head.

"Gemini gang," I suggested, crossing my arms. "Besides, I heard of many tales where Gemini was represented by a duo, a guy and a girl.

She laughed, "Gemini gang," she laughed again, "Yeah I'm in a gang."

"That's not too bad," I smiled to myself, "We can shorten it to GGs if we want."

"Sure, why the hell not?" She chuckled to herself, writing down our new appointed group name. "For founders I should put the both of us, right?" She tilted her head with her pen pointing down at the paper.

"Yeah, but put my name first," I laughed.

"Heck no," she smiled, writing her own username first.

"You rebel!" I tried to grab the pen out of her hand and we just cat fought for 3 minutes with other players glancing over at us as if we were 5 year olds playing around, which we kind of were. Finally, we just put our names down after a game of rock, papers, and scissors. (She won)

"What do we do for the contract?" she asked.

"Bullshit our way through, that's what." I answered. "Write something random there that's like three words and nobody will care."

"I'm going to write 'all those who dare join our group must meet the requirement of being born at an extraordinarily young age and MUST GO FAST'," she snickered as she wrote that down. I elbowed her rib.

"Get out of here."

Then we wrote our names in members and handed that in into the counters. The NPC didn't even look at the terrible contract and just made sure that it was filled and correct. Then we got our copies of it and received a charter. Heck yes. Then we walked out and headed back to our beginners village to raise our levels up.

* * *

"**Save my Leo! **(level 5 quest)

To the brave souls that are currently willing  
to save my dear cat, please help! He was frightened to  
death by the wolves that lurked around the east of Goblin  
forest and jumped onto a tree for dear life.  
I am afraid that even I cannot reach Leo.  
Please save him and return him to me!

Rewards: 500 c  
700 xp  
Smooth cloth  
Pet egg

"We're back here again, huh?" I sighed, kicking at a pebble on the grass.

"Yes, the place where we were attacked by a huge herd of sheep." She answered, looking around for a cat on a tree.

"Rams." I corrected. "And it was all your fault."

"Potato, patato." She mumbled,"But this time we're not looking for any."

I murmured in agreement. I smiled and enjoyed the scenery as we strolled through the ledges and grass. I could see rams in the distance along with running wolves. In the sky I could see flying dinosaur-like animals, just flying around. Man, the creators did a great job with this game. Distant screeches filled the sky above and sounds of animals running suffused the ground. I walked past a tree full of small six-winged hornets, I didn't bother trying anything funny.

"Leo… where art thou?" Gum clapped around, looking for signs of small cats running up trees.

"Think we should lure him out?" I asked.

"Even if we manage to find something to do so, I doubt he'll actually come down, Beat."

"Yeah well, we can't just walk ar- hey, over there!" I pointed to a nearby tree and saw a tree about 8 feet tall. A cat was just sitting on a branch meowing like there was no tomorrow. We ran towards it. We couldn't reach it. Not us midgets.

"How are we going to get up to him?" I asked, facing my partner.

"We… uh," she thought for a moment. Then her face lit up and she faced me, "Give me a boost."

"Got it," I cupped my hands below the tree and motioned her to stand on it. I gulped. I wasn't sure of how much she weighed, and I was afraid to ask. I once got slapped by Alice because I asked her after I gave her a piggyback ride. Gum put her hand on my shoulder and climbed on my hands. Then she used her other leg to get a hold of the tree. Luckily for her, she had shorts underneath that skirt.

"Here, Leo," she smiled and reached her hand out to the cat, who was practically scared shitless. She tried her best to calm the cat down, while I prayed that she was done with her little cat lady chanting. I began to sweat, holding her foot for that long.

"Can you please hurry up?" I asked.

"I'm trying!" she hissed.

Then I heard footsteps. Paw steps. I turned around and saw what the cat was afraid of. I practically screamed like a five year old kid with a lollipop at a jump scare horror house. I let go of my partner's leg and we both came tumbling down. That didn't help the cat's situation.

"Jesus, Beat!" She shouted, getting up and brushing grass of her body, "What the actual hell, dude?"

"Wolves!" I shouted back, getting back on my feet. I whipped out my newbie knife and my friend did the same with her level 10 switchblade. We faced the pack of wolves that scared the living hell out of the cat. They were all around level 5. Not much of a fair match for me.

They weren't much like wolves, really. They were called 'Ferrim Lupis', whatever that meant Their lower jaws had a _really_ sharp curled saber to it, which didn't help out our situation. Not to mention that their fur was replaced by something that looked like coarse silver skin. They growled at us. It wasn't even much of a growl, more like this screech mixed with clicking noises, the type dolphins use. This was creeping me out more and more.

"This gets brighter and brighter doesn't it?" she asked, folding her knife close to her. I shrugged. She sighed, "If anything happens, holler, got it?"

"Got it." I charged at a level 4 Ferrim and side stepped when he tried to headbutt me. 'Silly wolf, your ram friends' tricks won't work on me twice.' And I stabbed it on its side. It's health lowered by 1/10. Great. I glanced at Gum, who took down 4 already and was making a fifth kill. I grabbed the wolf's lower jaw and repeatedly stabbed it until it died. I pray that it found a woman or man of its dreams that will click with him/ her in the afterlife.

Right after that another Ferrim came along and thought it'd be funny to pounce on me. Level 7, darn. I tried to get it off me, but man, that thing probably weighed a ton. I tried using my blade and only manage to create a scratch on his face. He screeched (clicked) at me and swatted my knife 3 meters away. Crap. I began using my arms and tried my best to get him off me and hit him. I never felt so threatened in my life.

"Get off me! You-" I kicked him full in the face, "hound shit!" That made it more angry, and it swiped its claws on my face. I felt blood running down my cheeks, and my health dropped by 1/5. When I thought I was done for, Gum picked up a huge stick on the ground and whacked the Ferrim's stomach headfirst. It sent him flying meters away. He screeched as she ran over to it and stabbed its eye, instantly KOing him.

She ran up to me afterwards after leveling up to 16, "You okay?" she asked with worry, pulling me up.

"Yeah," I managed to let out, "I'm fine." I felt a bit dizzy from blood loss.

"God, you're bleeding!" she opened up her inventory menu and got out a potion. "Here!' she tossed it over to me and I popped the cork open. I chugged it all down, and I instantly felt better. Man, now I knew how hard it was to be a video game character. When my character got hit in a regular game, I had no clue it was this difficult.I picked up my knife and re-equiped it.

"We better go before more come," she said hastily, "Quick, boost me up again!" She ordered. I obeyed and boosted her up again. She reached for the cat this time. It meowed in fright, and probably tried to scratch her eyes out, but she managed to get a hold of him and came down.

"Alright, let's move to the gates!" She nodded and we ran back to the village. Unluckily for us, we were kind of far from it, and we ran into a huge Ferrim.

'Ferrim Lupis boss' level 15. Oh no. This was _not_ happening. He made the same clicker screech noise, but it was as though he was screaming his agony into a megaphone. The wolf towered over us, about 7 feet tall.

"Crap!" Gum shoved Leo into my hands, "You protect Leo, I'll take care of the boss!" she charged (rather heroically I must say) into his line of sight.

"But-!" I was too late to say anything, she evaded the boss' swipe and jumped away. She managed to injure his arm in the process. That angered him, obviously, since he thrashed around in circles, nearly knocking me out cold. I could see Gum underneath the stomach of him. That sneaky little girl.

When he screeched at the sky in frustration, she stabbed him 3 times in the stomach, then rolled away before he squashed her. The ferrim screamed, so loud I'll bet that the birds miles upward could hear him. My friend glanced over to me and smirked. I cheered, with Leo in my arms. He was warm and fluffy, like an alpaca.

This sequence of dodging and hitting continued. But then things went wrong. The boss caught on to Gum's tactics, and caught her behind him. He whipped her stomach brutally with his armored tail. She yelled as she was tossed 40 feet into the air and landed headfirst into rocks.

"Oh please, no…" I whispered, as the Ferrim neared her. She lost a lot of damage from the whip and the tail, and didn't have time to retaliate. The boss clicked and opened its jaws. She peered up at it. Too late.

He hurled his head down with mouth wide and chomped on my partner's stomach. She screamed for a split second and bit her lips. Dear lord, she was bleeding from her mouth as well as her gushing amount of red from her stomach.

"Gum!" I screamed, the cat hissed. I ran to her, but had to stumble back when the Ferrim, with my friend still in his mouth, flung her into the air. She was thrown up again, blood gushing out as well and he caught her with his mouth again, and chomped down hard. I could tell she was trying not to scream, and it was so _hard_ watching her suffer like this. _Do something, Avalon! Anything!_

The ferrim, with my partner still intact in his mouth, thrashed his head about the trees, and I could see her health go down to the red zone. She looked at me when he stopped for a moment, and she spat out some blood. Her eyes said 'run', but her state said 'please help me'. _Help her out already Avalon! _Then he began chomping away at her again.

"_This game is realistic, meaning we can feel pain, emotions, wind, etc, so it'll be like meeting each other in real life~" _Why was this game so realistic?

She hit the face of the Ferrim as much as she could, but she couldn't do much with the strength left in her.

"_I want to see you __you , __so be 100% you, got it? Other than that, make sure you have fun fun fun!"_

By now, she was on the verge of death, coughing and trying to hack away at the boss. He crunched even harder.

"_And Happy 17th Birthday! May you be showered with gold and my happiness!" _Happiness. I looked down at the Leo.

"Sorry buddy, stay here a bit, okay?" I put him down gently and ran to the huge wolf. I threw a stone perfectly aimed at its eye. That got his attention. He hissed at me.

"What are you-?" Gum began to ask, but she was thrown aside, landing into a hurdle of hard edges. She was in the single digits with her health points. I glared at the Ferrim. No one was going to hurt any of my friends, let alone chomping them half to deathe. He was aready weakened, I coud run in and help my friend out.

I charged him with plans in my mind. I could feel Leo cheering behind me, though he was an NPC and not meant to feel. He noticed me and tried to pull the same trick he did with Gum, swat me with his tail. I jumped on at the perfect split second. I was on his tail, which was turning at full speed. I rolled down his back and slashed at his tail before jumping off. I landed perfectly on my feet with all limbs intact. His metallic tail was not, unluckily for him. Tailless, he screeched again at the heavens. I dodged his swipe and rolled to my fallen partner.

_"Don't worry, under the great mistress Gum, you'll be elite in no time!"_

"Yeah, I'll be elite, but not with your pride destroyed," I snickered, pulling out a potion. I force fed it to her as she slowly gained back her health points. The large creature turned to us, and tried to swat me with his claws. I tried to protect us, but there wasn't any need. Even the Ferrim looked at his now clawless paw and glared at us.

Gum smirked with her switchblade. Four claws dropped to the grass a few feet from her.

"Yeah yeah, thanks for saving me," she thanked smugly, I chuckled. Just in time. My hands were still trembling and my face was full of sweat. Adrenaline sure saved my life back there. I stood next to her and switched on my newbie knife.

"Let's go!" We charged at the Ferrim with renewed strength, and went opposite directions. He targeted Gum at first, trying to get a bite out of her again. She ran swiftly, though, with her guard completely up. Then he lost her in the leaves of the trees.

I took the chance and stabbed him on his clawless paw, and he sneered at me. Damn my level 1 knife. He lifted me up with me still on his paw and he did his dolphin click scream again. I took my knife off and ran up his limb. By the time he realized I was gone, he lost both of us. This was a nice game of hide-and-seek with a wolf that was 7 feet tall.

He shook his whole body, so it was hard to keep my own balanced on his back. I struggled and I could barely climb up to his head. But then my savior came from the trees.

"Capricorn! Over here!" I yelled. Soundlessly, she jumped on to the back. The ferrim was too busy shaking around to even notice extra weight on his back. We nodded to each other. Holding our knives firmly with our hands, we scraped the opposite sides of the wolf while traveling upwards to the head. More hell screeching clicks induced.

"Virgo!" She screamed, jumping off his neck.

"Don't call me that!" I shouted back, doing the same. We landed square on the right and left sides of his face. Smirking, we stabbed his eyes. This time, he screeched the loudest I ever heard him screech. I used my other hand to hold my ear. It was like listening to a concert of microphones going haywire. It was insane. Just to be sure, I lifted my knife from him again and stabbed him. It was a gruesome sight, but we weren't going to let this much exp go to waste. We jumped off and landed on the grass (rather ungracefully might I add) as he breathed his last and finally (FINALLY) died on the spot.

"Did…did we do it?" I asked, slowly getting up and stumbling.

-Ferrim Lupis boss defeated!-

Rate: 3 stars  
Spoils: Ferrim claw  
Coarse cloth  
Ferrim eye  
Ferrim eye  
500 c

EXP gained: 1500 xp

I still couldn't calm down. I felt like my heart was going to pop off any moment. I was never going to judge another video game character whenever it died. _Ever_.

"You okay, bro?" She gave me her hand, and I could see that she had that same smile on her when I first met her yesterday. Calm, collected, reassuring. You couldn't tell that she just went through hell.

I didn't know what to say at first. But then I managed to find a smile stretch across my face. The message finally reached my mind. We did it. We defeated the boss. Nobody died. Leo was fine (he was purring in the corner), and we could manage to smile. "Yeah." I got her hand and I was lifted up.

"You did great there!" She remarked, with bright eyes.

"Same could go to you," I answered. And that was the truth. She didn't give up back there, and she endured an immense amount of pain almost wordlessly. I couldn't have done better myself. We walked over to the rewards of defeating the monster.

"Dang, these are some pretty good rewards," she collected them and we split the reward. I looked at my own menu.

You obtained:  
Coarse cloth  
Ferrim eye  
250 c  
1500 xp

_You leveled up to 4!_

I smiled delightfully at my partner, and she did the same. For once, I felt like I've finally found a friend that was like my own family.

* * *

_"Thanks for saving my Leo!"_

We walked out of Leo's owner's house while putting the rewards in our inventory.

"What should I do with these clothing materials?" I asked Gum, furrowing my eyebrows.

"You make yourself look fabulous," she teased, poking my in the ribs. I smirked back and poked her back. After the poking war, I got serious again.

"Ok ok, what about the egg?" I asked, looking at it in her inventory.

"Well..." She thought for a moment, "I'm sure there's a pet harvester shop in this town somewhere…" she looked around. "We just got to pay the price and then the pet will hatch and viola," I looked at the egg. What if it was something retarded? It had brown spots all over it. I was afraid of what it might become.

It was 11:23 pm in my time zone right now, it wouldn't hurt playing a little longer. And by a little longer I mean all the way up to 4 in the morning.

"What are we going to even name it?" I asked, skating with her through the streets.

"Great mistress Gum the second," she smiled, folding her arms.

"Oh heck no-"

"There they are!" Hm? We both turned around to where the shouting came from. It sounded horribly familiar, and not in a good way.

"Told you I'd find you!" Oh no. We were greeted by a whole group of guys, all about level 10 to 17. There were about 9 of them, including the guy we thought was familiar.

I leaned closer to my partner, "Isn't that…?"

She nodded, sweating, "It's the guy from this morning," It wasn't exactly "morning" for me, but it was the same fat dude from Camelot's den that caused a ruckus. Didn't think he'd actually come with his gang.

"We don't have time for this," I hissed under my breath.

"They the ones?" one of the tougher looking guys asked the big dude from earlier, pointing at us. I pinched Gum's arm lightly.

"I…I think we should make a run for it…"

"Yep," he answered, smirking smugly at us.

"I..I agree," she answered lightly, beginning to pull me back.

"After 'em!" He ordered, "Send them back to the starter point and continue killing them until they reach level 1!"

"Shit!" We made a run for it, but we couldn't last long from players of higher levels than us, since their agility was significantly higher than mine.

"What do we do? What do we do?" I asked repeatedly to my female friend, who was just about as panicked as I was.

"Uh… we uh…." She was at a lost for plans for once. One guy with an axe grabbed her arm. He was level 12, unluckily for him. She used her switchblade and slashed at him. Critical hit, one hit KO. 8 more guys to go, great. She grabbed my arm, and we skated past crowds, with complaints here and there.

"Here!" she motioned me to an alleyway, and several of the guys followed. Turning left and right and right and left. My head grew a bit dizzy from all the fast running, or skating, whatever you'd like to call it. Finally, we reached a dead end, with a wire fence separating us from the other side. The wired door was locked as could be.

"Shoot," I whispered.

"This is just perfect," she cursed all the cusses I could think of while the 8 remaining players cornered us.

"Nowhere to hide and run like bugs now, huh?" One sneered, coming for me. I side rolled to the right. Huh, I was getting the hang of this, I thought to myself. But it wasn't the time to feel proud, more men began coming my way. I dodged and step-sided wherever I could, evading every attack possible. They cussed at me. Maybe I should have been a thief instead so I could evade even better.

Gum on the other hand, was more rash and took them head on. Using her switch, she stabbed and rolled and hacked as if her life depended on it (which sort of did, just not in real life). Taking down all the level 10s and 11s first. Finally, we regrouped to a corner, with 3 level 15s left, one level 17, and 2 level 16s.

"Dam it all," she mumbled under her breath, almost out of breath. I could barely breath correctly myself. Though I wasn't hurt, all this dodging was starting to add up.

The level 17 ran towards me and bashed my head with a hammer. I couldn't even evade that one. Instantly, my life dropped by 60%. Ow. What was even worse, I felt the pain in my head, and it _hurt_. Shit. He went for another bash again, but I rolled out of his way, but two level 15s held me. I looked over at Gum, who was kicking the face of a level 15 while being held down by another two.

"Let… GO OF ME, you chicken crap!" Their lives may have been damaged, but we were in worse condition. The level 17 held up his hammer one last time, preparing to strike down on my face. I've never hated hammers so much in my life. Then he swung down, and I closed my eyes in preparation for death.

"_Fulmen Ignis_!" I opened my eyes again. I felt something hot. _Really hot_ near my face and body in general. I looked around. The level 17 guy was gone and the other guys were shrieking. Strikes and bolts of blue lightning everywhere was all I could see. I never saw lightning this close before, and in this state, I don't think seeing it at the moment was very pleasing.

I looked around for the voice it came from. Then a shadow from a rooftop building came running down at full speed, or skating down. Then he jumped off the wall and landed on top of the wired fence. The lightning stopped, and only two level 16 and one level 15 remained.

"Caster," I could hear Gum whisper in awe besides me, picking me up with her hand again.

"_Fluvious aqua_!" Tons of water suddenly came streaking from pipes that were surrounded in the alley and surrounded them, and they drowned inside of it. Their health now instantly gone, they died and were teleported back to the starting point, probably being asked if they wanted to log off or restart from starting point. I loked back at my partner, and she was smiling at awe at who was our savior on top of the fence meters high, arms crossed.

I couldn't make out much from the silhouette, but my first thought that came to mind was his tall hat that felt almost out of place. The first thing that came to me was a type of food.

"_A corn_?" I blurted out.

* * *

Author's note: And yet another chapter to help me with the writer's block on my other fanfiction. Geez, I'm really stumped on that one ;_;

Wonder who the mysterious caster savior could be? As if it wasn't obvious enough. Oh and in case that the friends of Beat that were mentioned weren't distinguished enough because of my vague descriptions, here:

Alice- Cube  
Jazzy- Jazz  
Kevin- Clutch c:

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review as I go on to spot problems!


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